Theoretical Grounding of Results

Before relating the results back to the theories discussed in Chapter 3 a description of the study’s ability to answer the research questions will be provided. In order to answer research question number 1, what the aspirations are of rural youth, the respondents were asked to identify what their most important goals and aspirations are. The primary research question in this study is very straightforward and hopes to provide information for future policy development. Supporting youth aspirations is a key in promoting aspiration

development. By providing the necessary tools for youth to attempt to attain their aspirations, they are able to create more realistic goals and not to feel the sense of helplessness that their goals are unachievable. As trends of urbanization grow globally it will be increasingly important to understand what rural youth want and need in order to find their niche in a new type of society. In order to provide rural areas with the proper tools to foster youth development, and more specifically aspiration development, we must first understand which tools are wanted.

According to the social capital theories discussed in Section 3.3. the family and school play crucial roles in youth’s development of and employment of social capital, which in turn leads to higher educational attainment and the development of more realistic aspirations. Therefore, the inclusion of information about family within the questionnaire has provided compelling information about the impact of these relationships to youth’s development of aspirations. The information about parental educational achievement and employment point to two key factors in the development of social capital. Primarily it offers information about the potential social capital retained by the family by placing them within a certain socio-economic sector. Secondly the ability or inability of a respondent to answer these questions shows something about the communication about education within the family. As Bourdieu (1990), Coleman (1990) and Marjoribanks (1998) all demonstrate, in order for a family’s social capital to be of benefit to a child, there must exist strong familial relations. A parent’s possession of social capital means very little for the

development of a child if it is not shared through active and meaningful communication.

Therefore, it is not surprising, and in fact reiterates the findings of previous research that the educational attainment of the parents has an impact on the type of goals that youth set.

The findings from these questions help to answer research question number two, which asks what the most influential factors are in aspiration development. These questions provide information about which factors are influential to youth whom are in the process of developing a sense of future orientation and defining their own goals and aspirations. The impact of social capital is one which is not necessarily identified by the respondents

themselves and is therefore extrapolated from the data the respondents provided about their families. The students were also asked to simply explain what or whom has most

influenced their aspirations. The last question of the questionnaire asked what the

respondent’s main goals and aspirations are and who/what has most influenced these. The answer to the second part provides direct information for answering research question number two.

Alongside these direct sources of information, the demographic data and values of the respondent also help to create classifications about the factors which influence

aspirations. The possible link between family values and aspirations is one which is explored in the questionnaire data. Furthermore, the respondents own evaluation of school and education is an important factor in future aspirations. This evaluation weighs heavily upon the type of aspirations that one might develop. Whether or not someone gives high value to schooling will likely determine whether or not they will continue with post-secondary education. There are also differences in the perceived values of school and potential aspirations. Meaning that while some believe education and school have intrinsic value, others see it as the source of future economic gain. These distinctions tend to play a role in aspirations as well.

Moreover, the research questions were developed using the theories used in this thesis, therefore the information which was provided has theoretical implications. The present data provides support for and description of the theories and their key components, which were described in Chapter 3. The theories not only provide a way to analyze the data, but the data supports these theories and allows for inferences to be made about the study group itself as well as wider demographics.

5.3.1. Developing Capacity to Aspire through Education The basis of CTA, being rooted in the capability approach, focuses on the capabilities of people, the things that people are truly able to accomplish in their given circumstances. The CTA is a capability, or capacity, which is unevenly distributed and must be harnessed in order for it to reach its full potential. A person’s CTA is affected by many factors and their context is extremely important. The current study highlights the potential of this population to aspire. The respondents have a developed capacity to aspire, while some a more realistic one than others. This finding goes along with Posti-Ahokas and Palojoki (2014) who found that higher educational attainment leads to heightened aspirations. The fact that the sample group is currently pursuing secondary education puts them in an advantaged position. The respondents are exposed to some amount of future planning and educational resources through their pursuance of secondary education. The results of the study also reinforce Appadurai’s (2004) finding that the more connected a society is the more likely aspirations will be developed and attained. The

interconnectedness of Sámara allows for members of society to help one another in the pursuance of aspirations and in the development of them by allowing for transparency of the means which are necessary to achieve certain goals. The structure of the local society

provides the youth with many different reference groups whom to mirror their aspirations off of and become inspired by. This feature allows for the youth to overcome the possible limitations of their social class or culture and to aspire beyond the most simplistic

aspirations.

Further postulation about the societal effects on the CTA are not possible to form based upon the data collected. Had there been a chance for comparison with a sample from a different community it would be possible to explore this part of the CTA. What we can see however is that the societal structures and norms in Sámara have fostered an

environment which allows for the development of high reaching aspirations and has thus far positively influenced aspiration development in youth.

5.3.2. Overcoming Habitus and Adaptive Preference

Overall there seems to be quite a bit of interconnectivity among the different classes and the sense of community is quite high in the area. According the field notes and personal observations Sámara and Costa Rica as a whole is made up of a people who do not discriminate much among themselves, at least. The class differences within Sámara, especially among locals, are noticeable in material goods, but people live in such a close vicinity to one another that there is not such a huge stratification of class among different neighborhoods. Of course the further away you get from Sámara, the more common it is to find people of lower economic standing, but these groups still intermingle and work together. Considering that only a very elite group attends private schools, the population who attends public school has this commonality which ties them to one another. In the public school system these students are equal and they are faced with similar issues and toolsets.

Among the sample it becomes very clear that female youth aspire to have careers.

Not a single female omitted some type of formal employment among her other aspirations.

However, in the previous generation, the parents of these students, most women work as stay at home mothers. Most of the mothers of these children do not have a career outside of the home. This phenomenon is a reflection of two things, primarily it reiterates the

importance of the family unit in Costa Rica, and subsequently it highlights the main class distinction which is present in this society. As mentioned previously, families in the upper class, meaning families where both parents are working as professionals in a salaried position, can afford to pay for childcare or other domestic help, which therefore allows for both parents to work. The most common situation, or the middle class, consists of a family where the father works a full time job and earns enough that the family can subsist off of

his income. Therefore, the mother in this case would generally stay home in order to take care of the children and the home, so that income wouldn't be wasted on these things.

Families in the lower class, meaning families where neither parent works a salaried and/or permanent job, cannot afford to only have one source of income and therefore both parents work jobs where they receive an hourly wage. From the latter stems the quite common situation the one might come across in El Torito, or any other town, that a daughter would take care of her younger siblings while the parents are working. Oftentimes this daughter is herself a child, not even a preteen, but the responsibility of the younger siblings falls on her shoulders. This can sometimes interrupt school schedules, and most certainly does affect out of school activities.

Although, according to the data, it seems that females have re-adapted their adaptive preferences and habitus to align more with upper class ideals, it is uncertain whether these aspirations will become reality or not. Most respondents, both male and female, expressed hopes to have a family: children and a spouse, alongside a career. The key to promoting and fostering this trend will be to provide realistic opportunities for youth to pursue their current aspirations and to guide them in the direction of realistic aspirations.

5.3.3. Education as Capital

While the findings of the study in regard to effects of capital on youth’s aspirations were not particularly conclusive, they do reiterate the interconnectivity discussed previously. Previous studies have shown that low family social capital tends to lead to lower aspirations and educational attainment, and that this is one of the key factors in the cyclical nature of poverty. However, it has also been posited that while family social capital might be lacking, youth are able to make up for this through other relationships, such as those with teachers. As Coleman (1990) discusses, the more the members of a community depend on one another, the stronger the social capital is in that community.

This is in line with the findings of the study, as it seems that the capital that the youth have access to, is in a sense shared, and that the experiences that they each have are linked in a way that overcomes class differences.

Table 3 Aspiration Type and Parent’s Education Level

The main conclusion that can be drawn from the study in regards to social capital is the effect that parental education level has on youth’s aspirations. While most

respondents had multifaceted aspirations, the ones which were most developed and included the most realistic information about their attainment, tend to come from youth whose parents have a higher level of education. Table 3 shows that the majority of

respondents whose parents have attended post-secondary education fall under the Realistas category, while in the Mandamás category most respondent’s parents had only received primary level education. In many cases the youth who experience lower social capital at home were less likely to have in depth plans for how to achieve their goals and were less likely to identify specific future goals and aspirations. The Optimistas have the highest amount of parents who have received secondary education. Recalling the classification of the Optimistas it is clear that this significant level of education has inspired these

respondents to set great goals. However, these respondents have not identified realistic pathways for achieving these goals. This might be due to the fact that they do not have a direct example of someone who works as a professional, for example. Therefore, they do not know the necessary steps to obtain that level of work, although they believe that it would be a beneficial. Of the Optimistas most also desire to travel the whole world, and again they may have heard about the benefits and glamour of international experiences, but don’t have any direct and realistic examples to follow. Table 4 shows that half of the respondents whose parents were professionals fall into the Realistas category. As stated previously, some of the other aspirers did also have realistic and well thought out goals, but were placed into their ideal type due to other factors. This helps to explain the

respondents who are in different categories, but still have professional parents. Of course the categories that have been made also have exceptions. This finding is in line with previous postulations that parent’s social capital, formed in part by education and employment opportunities, has an effect on children’s aspirations and future attainment.

Aspiration Type

Optimistas Mandamás Realistas Modestos

n % n % n % n %

Parent’s Primary 3 21 7 100 17 55 3 43

Education Secondary 10 71 0 0 8 26 3 43

Level Post-Primary 1 7 0 0 6 19 1 14

Total* 14 100 7 100 31 100 7 100

*Only 59 respondents provided this information

5.3.4. Value of Education as Indicator of Aspirations

Accordingly to Posti-Ahokas and Palojoki (2014) this study found that the many of the respondents attribute the value of education and schooling to future career

opportunities and the possibility to become someone. As demonstrated in Table 5 the majority of respondents cited an instrumental value for schooling and education, alongside the value of learning, which also influences the types of aspirations that were common.

Most respondents believe that education is the necessary tool for attaining their aspirations and therefore they also cited studying and school attendance as steps towards goal

achievement. Another key theme among the data was the want to help others, and most frequently to give back to family members. This is also in line with Posti-Ahokas and Palojoki (2014) who cite one of the common instrumental values of schooling to be the potential to give back in the future.

Table 5 Value of School by Percentage of Aspirers

Aspiration Type

Optimistas Mandamás Realistas Modestos

n % n % n % n %

*one respondent says it is a waste of time

Crivello’s (2011) in-depth study about ‘becoming somebody’ resonates with the findings in the present study. A very common response among respondents was the desire to ‘become somebody’ (of value, or a better person). As can be seen in Table 5 among Los

Table 4 Percentage of Aspirers with Professional Parent

Modestos many respondents who desired to become somebody attributed this goal to education, or even more specifically, to becoming a professional. As described in Section 3.4. the desire to ‘become a professional’ is very common among youth, and this particular phrasing is very common in Spanish speaking countries (Ames, 2010). The tendency of the respondents who aspire to ‘become somebody’ to attribute this possibility to ‘becoming a professional’, or completing school in general, aligns with past findings like those of Crivello (2011) and Ames (2010).

Another common desire of the respondents, and as Table 5 shows especially among Los Modestos, is the attainment of dreams and personal independence. As Posti-Ahokas and Palojoki (2014) review, one of the commonly perceived instrumental values of education is the promise of independence. Among the respondents in this study the

majority cited desires to either distinctly ‘become independent’ or then desires related to independence such as ‘own house’, ‘own car’, ‘own family’. Therefore, this study reinforces the intrinsic valuation of education for providing opportunities for future independence, as past studies have shown.

Similarly to the CTA this value ascribed to education allows for the youth to overcome some of the symbolic limitations set on their aspirations. While they may face conflict in how to achieve their goals the value of education that has been embedded in the respondents translates to heightened aspirations for their future careers and education. This value works as a factor which breaks through the horizons that may have existed in this community in previous generations. Education has become a valuable asset, whether it was that way before or not.

The final note about value of education within this study is the occurrence of the aspiration to help others. Most commonly respondents desired to help their parents by giving back to them, some respondents noted that they would like to give their parents a nice house, while other respondents wanted to help those who are in need. Posti-Ahokas and Palojoki (2014) noted that one of the common intrinsic values of education was the desire to help others, which has been reinforced by the findings of the current study.

Overall the aspirations of the respondents can be summarized by saying that most believe education provides the potential to have a career in the future, and that through this career they will be able to help others, become independent and/or fulfill other future desires such as travelling. The attribution of these potential future trajectories to education is in line with the studies cited in Section 3.4. and reviewed again briefly here about the

value of education. This study has reaffirmed the values that youth tend to attribute to education.

6. D

F